Meeting Social and Economic Challenges in Aquaculture

Recognizing the need to secure food and income, AQD developed and implemented social and economic strategies in aquaculture and resource management, to overcome the unintended socioeconomic problems brought about by the development of aquaculture.

Approaches to this end include conducting socioeconomic studies that promote collaboration with stakeholders and the local government through community-based strategies, training of fisherfolks to ensure sustainable implementation of aquaculture projects, and creation of socioeconomic benefits for marginalized fishery stakeholders. More recently, AQD raised the understanding of aquaculture stakeholders on climate change indicators that provide basis for recommending adaptation and mitigation strategies in aquaculture operations.

Collaborative R&D in aquaculture

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is the most consumed fish and common protein source in the Philippines and the mariculture of milkfish is the way to go to meet fish food requirements in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. To address emerging nutrification problem in milkfish production areas around the Philippines, AQD conducted grow-out trials to evaluate the application of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) in milkfish culture.

Hatchery-reared milkfish seeds at stocking density ranging from 23-27 fingerlings per m² were stocked in two mariculture pens (156 m² average size) along with filter-feeding hatchery-reared sandfish (Holuthuria scabra) juveniles and nutrient-absorbing seaweeds Kappaphycus sp. plantlets produced at AQD. Local fisherfolk members of the Pandaraonan Unified Association and the local government of Guimaras Province were involved in this activity. Results from four culture runs showed that production cost could be recovered, although constrained by high fingerling cost, feeds and other input shipment costs to the culture site and poaching. Also, sandfish and seaweeds in the IMTA system were not sustained due to predation and diseases.

Socioeconomic strategies were applied through value-adding options to overcome high input costs and to compensate for the lack of sandfish and seaweeds harvest. Overall, the collaborative R&D activities such as the application of IMTA in milkfish mariculture successfully improved the aquaculture skills of the fisherfolks by teaching them to grow economically important fish and seaweeds. The fisherfolks also learned entrepreneurial and postharvest skills by selling their milkfish harvest, training women in the community to debone and prepare milkfish dishes. Cooked milkfish in oil were fed to school children to encourage fish consumption to improve their nutritional condition. These IMTA social and environmental experiments are being co-funded and implemented together with research fellows from the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS).

Collaborative efforts were also sustained through two Community-Based Resource Enhancement (CBRE) activities that use hatchery-reared seeds for stock enhancement in depleted fisheries. The one that involves hatchery-reared abalone, (Haliotis asinina) and sandfish (Holothuria scabra) stocked at the Sagay Marine Reserve in Negros Occidental and funded by Government of Japan-Trust Fund (GOJ-TF), has demonstrated that hatchery- reared seeds released in suitable protected sites can help rebuild depleted coastal resources, supplement livelihood, and contribute to improving the supply of abalone in markets. Fisherfolk in Sagay benefited from the harvest of spill-over from the released abalone and sandfish in the CBRE site while the local government unit and fisherfolk associations continued to manage the project.

Workshop on Management of Community- Based Aquaculture Projects participated by fisherfolks, women and local government officials

of Barangay Pandaraonan, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras

Value-adding of milkfish harvest from IMTA experiments was highly appreciated by women in

Barangay Pandaraonan

Moreover, AQD participated in the Sustainable Seafood Week campaign of high-end gourmet establishments that aims to improve the health of the oceans by sourcing seafood products from more sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Through such event, the awareness of stakeholders had been raised, especially on the significance of the CBRE activities implemented by AQD.

The other CBRE of hatchery-reared tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon in New Washington Estuary (NWE) in Aklan province was funded by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) of Japan. Released tiger shrimp juveniles grew to >100-g marketable size as monitored in fish buying stations in the fishing community. However, implementation of existing fishing gear regulations should be addressed together with local government and fisherfolks as fine mesh nets entrapped the released tiger shrimp juveniles. These indicate the need for improving governance to support stock enhancement and ensure economic benefits for the fisheries stakeholders.

Multi-agency collaboration and sharing of information

AQD established collaboration and linkages with the local government units and fisherfolk associations in areas where studies on IMTA and CBRE are being conducted. The tri-party collaboration between organized fisherfolk, the local government and AQD successfully

AQD participated in the Sustainable Seafood Week held in Manila to promote the sourcing

of seafood from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture

Hatchery-reared sandfish from the CBRE project grew to marketable size in sea ranch area in

Molocaboc in Sagay

AQD staff with local fisherfolk of Molocaboc Diut, comprising the inhabited island within the Sagay Marine Reserve in the Philippines, released hatchery-reared juveniles in the CBRE replicate site which local fisherfolk will protect

demonstrated, promoted and achieved social and economic objectives for the IMTA in Guimaras and CBRE project sites in Negros Occidental and Aklan Provinces. Multi-agency collaboration initiated the replication of CBRE in more sites in Sagay and other potential remote coastal communities in Camarines Sur Province through a local state university.

1.7.6 Environment-friendly, Sustainable Utilization and Management of Fisheries